Monday 18 April 2005 06.24 EDT
First published on Monday 18 April 2005 06.24 EDT

If anyone was uncertain about whether Paula Radcliffe is the best female marathon runner in history then the events of yesterday will surely have ended those doubts.

The fact that the Bedford runner could afford to stop for an unscheduled and highly embarrassing public toilet break after 22 miles and still win the Flora London Marathon by more than five minutes in a world-record time showed what an extraordinarily gifted talent she is.

The spectators standing behind the barriers at Commercial Road, Wapping, and the estimated 5m viewers watching on television must have feared they were witnessing a horrible flashback to last year's Olympics in Athens, when a series of injury and illness problems had ended her gold medal dream.

Radcliffe suddenly veered towards the side of the road and squatted down. At first it was assumed she was injured but the way in which she recovered quickly and resumed running told a different story.

"I was losing 10 seconds every mile because my stomach was cramping," said Radcliffe. "I had to stop and go. I felt ropey around the 16-mile mark but went on for too long. I didn't want to have to resort to that in front of thousands of people.

"I didn't spot any Portaloos nearby but then it would have taken me ages to get back through the crowd and I'd probably have had to sign autographs on the way back.

"I was struggling with my stomach and it was nothing like the problems I had in Athens. I just needed to go to the loo and once it went it was fine."

The pit stop was completed in a time any formula one team would have been proud of it. It only cost Radcliffe about 15 seconds before she resumed her relentless pursuit of her own world best time for a performance set in a women-only race.

The London Marathon organisers had controversially ruled they would pay out prize money and bonuses worth $255,000 if Radcliffe ran faster than the "women-only world record" of 2hr 18min 56sec she had set on her debut at the distance here in 2002. It was a target she achieved yesterday when she crossed the line in 2:17.42.

With appearance money of $500,000 (£264,000) and unpublished bonuses from the London Marathon and sponsors amounting to $250,000 it earned her $1m. How different from Joyce Smith, winner of the inaugural London Marathon 25 years ago. She had paid her own train fare to the race and first prize was a wristwatch worth less than £100.

Radcliffe has twice run quicker than she did yesterday, including in London two years ago when she won in an absolute world record of 2:15.25, but on both occasions had been offered assistance by male pacemakers. There was no such help this time.

Officials had recruited two women to try to help Radcliffe run a fast pace only for them to be dismissed after only five miles because they could not match the speed she was running. It was then the familiar tale of Radcliffe against the clock, although her stomach has recently proved to be almost as tough an opponent. The problems started in Athens and continued in New York City, a race she won 11 weeks after her Greek tragedy, where she admitted there was a moment the problem had briefly flared up again. Now this.

"I think I must have eaten too much pasta," Radcliffe said. "Hopefully I'll sort it out rather than have to look out for pit stops in future marathons.

"I know what people must have been thinking when I went toward the side of the road. I could hear a sharp intake of breath from the crowd around me when I stopped."

Radcliffe was so far ahead at the end that the runner-up, Romania's Constantina Dita, was still approaching the finish by the time the Briton had already recovered and was conducting a television interview. She finished in 2:22.50, 5.08 behind.

"I didn't know the gap was so big," said Radcliffe. "It was only when I finished I found out. I asked Sue Barker 'who was second?' and she said they haven't come in yet."

The statistics supporting Radcliffe as the best female marathon runner in history are beginning to pile high. She now has the three fastest times in history and four of the top five. Of the six races she has run, she has won five - the only defeat being in Athens.

Radcliffe's failure in Athens does not appear to have affected her standing around the world. She is due to travel to New York this week as a guest of Time magazine, which named her as one of the most 100 influential people in the world. Among those who failed to make the list was Tony Blair.

"A lot of people still don't get what happened in Athens," Radcliffe claimed. "I wasn't right going into the race. I was trying to convince myself I could get out there and do it. Coming into this I had the smoothest of preparations, no injuries, no falling over bicycles or tripping over doorstops in the bathroom."

It demonstrated once again if ill-fortune had not scowled on Radcliffe in Athens then she would have been Olympic champion.